The present invention relates to column shift devices for motor vehicles.
A column shift device is a shift device mounted to a steering column for motor vehicles and having a shift lever disposed in the vicinity of a steering wheel to be rotatable, when pushing a select button, for selection of a desired shift range or position.
The steering column is arranged with a key interlock mechanism which is a mechanism for preventing removal of a key from a key cylinder during cruising of a vehicle and allowing it only at parking (P) range. Though operated with the column shift device for that purpose, the key interlock mechanism is a component fully different from the column shift device, and is thus mounted to the steering column separately. And a lock pin of the key cylinder and a key interlock lever of the column shift device are connected to each other through a cable.
In the configuration wherein the key interlock mechanism is formed with a cable, however, a wide space is needed to dispose the cable, raising a problem of an increase in size, number of parts and weight. Particularly, an increase in number of parts can produce greater dispersion of the dimension of a key interlock portion due to their tolerances of the parts, resulting in a problem of time-consuming adjustment.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a shift column device which can overcome the above problems with a simple configuration.
Generally, the present invention provides a column shift device, comprising:
a steering column;
a bracket secured to said steering column;
a shift lever rotatably supported to said steering column through said bracket;
a position plate mounted to said shift lever, said position plate including a detent portion;
a detent plate swingably supported by said bracket, said detent plate engaging and disengaging from said detent portion of said position plate;
a wire arranged through said shift lever, said wire having one end connected to said detent plate and another end connected to a select button of said shift lever;
a cam arranged with said shift lever for unitary rotation, said cam including a cam portion;
a key cylinder arranged with said bracket;
a support lever rotatably supported by said bracket, said support lever having one end biased to engage with said cam portion of said cam and another end which can abut on said detent plate;
a key lock lever arranged rotatable with said support lever; and
a lock pin connected to said key lock lever, said lock pin engaging and disengaging from said key cylinder.
One aspect of the present invention lies in providing a column shift device, comprising:
a steering column;
a bracket secured to said steering column;
a shift lever rotatably supported to said steering column through said bracket;
a position plate mounted to said shift lever, said position plate including a detent portion;
a detent plate swingably supported by said bracket, said detent plate engaging and disengaging from said detent portion of said position plate;
a wire arranged through said shift lever, said wire having one end connected to said detent plate and another end connected to a select button of said shift lever;
a cam arranged with said shift lever for unitary rotation, said cam including a cam portion;
a key cylinder arranged with said bracket;
a support lever rotatably supported by said bracket, said support lever having one end biased to engage with said cam portion of said cam and another end which can abut on said detent plate;
a key lock lever arranged rotatable with said support lever;
a lock pin connected to said key lock lever, said lock pin engaging and disengaging from said key cylinder;
a protrusion formed on said cam;
a switch arranged with said bracket, said switch being operable by abutting on said protrusion when said shift lever is shifted to a parking range; and
a shift lock mechanism arranged responsive to said switch, said shift lock mechanism being capable of preventing movement of said detent plate.